Bass Armstrong (バース・アームストロング,Bāsu Āmusutorongu) is a retired professional wrestler and Tina's overprotective father. He is also the widower of Alicia Armstrong, who died of a disease when Tina was only six years old, forcing Bass to take care of her by himself. He disapproves of Tina's aspirations of wanting to be a model (DOA2), a Hollywood actress (DOA3) and a rock star (DOA4). Consequently, Bass enters the DOA tournaments to put an end to her fame-seeking, only to fail at each attempt. In the fourth tournament, it is revealed that he intends to win so he would have enough money to enter the "Hyper Battle Grand Prix", which he then loses after seeing Tina's picture on a billboard and crashes into it after losing control of his bike. Like Tina in the English versions of the game, he, too, speaks with a Southern accent. In DOA5, two years after the fourth tournament, Bass is a worker at an oil rig and has befriended Rig. He decides to re-enter the ring after the next tournament is announced, mainly after hearing that Tina will participate. After defeating Tina in the quarterfinals, he places third after losing to Jann Lee in the semifinals.

In the live-action adaptation, Bass is played by professional wrestler Kevin Nash. In the movie, he tries to persuade Tina to return to wrestling. Bass' character is far more lighthearted in the movie, even applauding Tina when she beats him.

Bayman (バイマン,Baiman) is a former spetsnaz soldier who specializes in the sambo fighting style. He first joins the DOA tournament to assassinate Fame Douglas, and later joins the DOA3 tournament to retaliate against Donovan for the attempt on his life by a sniper. Bayman was born and raised as an orphan in the Soviet Union. He aspired to join the military and became one of the Soviet Army's highly trained commandos. But before he saw any action, the Soviet Union collapsed. Realizing the new regime would have no use for him, Bayman slipped through the cracks of the reformation and took up the life of a mercenary, putting his skills to good use in all manner of lethal assignments. He found particular pleasure in assassinations, especially challenging or high-profile assignments. His dream assignment came to him when he entered into the first Dead or Alive World Tournament under orders from Victor Donovan to assassinate its organizer, the renowned Fame Douglas, chairman of DOATEC. His task completed, Bayman fled, now branded an outlaw. After surviving a failed attack on his life by an unknown sniper, Bayman decides to retaliate against his former client Donovan and shows up at the third tournament. Bayman later also enters the fourth tournament seeking revenge on Donovan and fights Christie, supposedly to settle a score of the enmity that aroused between the two of them. At the end of the tournament, Bayman is held in captivity within the DOATEC Tritower and is being interrogated. During the chaos that erupts due to Ayane and Hayate's intervention, he frees himself, while his interrogators flee and are killed in the process with Ayane's spell effects. In the fifth tournament, it is revealed that Bayman has survived the incident. He is no longer an assassin, but again works as a mercenary soldier. After his men are appears to be massacred at the hands of a Kasumi clone called Phase 4, but was spared, Bayman goes to Helena for answers, and decides to look into this on his own. He helps Hayate and Ayane find their target, first being Kasumi clone, then take them to MIST secret hideout within the offshore, and departs.

Gen Fu (ゲン・フー,Gen Fū) is an old martial arts master who specializes in the xinyi liuhe quan fighting style. He fights in the DOA tournaments to obtain money to cure his sick granddaughter, Mei Lin. In the second tournament, he wants to defeat Gohyakumine Bankotsubo because the nose of a tengu can cure any disease. However, after the events of DOA2, he still needed money for the operation (the nose was only a temporary cure), so he joins again in DOA3. His task fulfilled at the end, he no longer joins the DOA tournaments, though he still remains a playable character in later games. In DOA4, he is revealed to be Eliot's teacher, and is the final boss for the latter's story mode. He is only seen at the end of Eliot's chapter in DOA5's story mode, and he is ready to teach Eliot a more advanced kung-fu.

Jann Lee (ジャン・リー,Jan Rī) is a young martial arts expert who joins the Tournaments to show his superior jeet kune do fighting abilities. He is met at the tournament by Leifang, a girl he had saved some six years prior from a gang's attack. In the time since she had become an accomplished martial artist, vowing to prove herself not helpless by defeating Jann Lee in the DOA World Combat Championship. Not satisfied, Jann Lee enters later DOA tournaments to prove his fighting skills and looking to test himself against worthy opponents. Although he loses to Leifang in the fourth tournament, he manages to defeat her in the next one. He later claims the title of winner of the fifth DOA tournament after defeating Hitomi. Although, he wins, he is still dissatisfied, and he sets his sights on his new rival Rig.

His name, as well as his overall appearance and mannerisms, pays homage to legendary martial artist Bruce Lee (the name "Jann Lee" is directly inspired by Bruce Lee's birth name Lee Jun-Fan (李振藩)). GamesRadar featured him on their article "Kickass Bruce Lee Clones," citing his similarities with Bruce Lee and with one of his shouts featured in famous quotes.[4]

Raidou (雷道,Raidō) is the main antagonist of the first Dead or Alive game, Ayane's biological father, Kasumi and Hayate's uncle, and Shiden's older brother. A power-hungry shinobi, Raidou seeks to master all of the Mugen Tenshin clan's techniques. He raped Ayame (Hayate and Kasumi's mother) who became pregnant with Ayane. As a result, Raidou was banished from his village. He later returned to gain the clan's signature technique, the Torn Sky Blast, and confronts Hayate after easily defeating Ayane. Hayate uses the Torn Sky Blast to attack Raidou, but Raidou counters with his own version of the technique (despite only seeing it once) and defeats Hayate after a brief struggle, knocking him into a coma. Raidou was killed by Kasumi in the first DOA tournament, thus deeming her its winner. He is playable in all console versions of the original Dead or Alive once unlocked. He also appears in DOA Dimensions as an unlockable character. He is later returned in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round as a cyborg, becoming MIST's secret agent after Donovan retrieved his corpse and removed some of his memories, except his insatiable lust for power, death and revenge remains intact.

Cheat Code Central ranked him as the fifth worst "video game dad" in 2012, calling him "a blight on virtual humanity" and adding that "we can all agree the DOA universe is better off without this power-hungry monster."[5]

Zack (ザック,Zakku) is an eccentric African-American DJ who specializes in the muay thai boxing style. After hearing about the tournament, Zack enters to increase his popularity and make a name for himself, and apparently succeeds in that endeavor to an extent. Zack enters the next tournament to please his fans and gain more money, in which he once again succeeds and then returns to his life of leisure. After exhausting all his financial reserves, Zack enters the third tournament to earn more money so that he can enjoy a Las Vegas vacation. However, it is revealed he did not actually win the tournament, but Ayane, who defeated Omega (Genra). Due to Ayane's departure after the tournament, Zack claims the title by default. Shortly afterwards, Zack goes to Las Vegas and using his earnings, bets it all in various casinos. He wins enough money to buy Zack Island, an extravagant private beach resort. He then invites all the women of DOA under the false pretense of another tournament, who take the bait and arrive on the island where Zack, accompanied by his girlfriend Niki, convinces them to stay for a brief two-week vacation. Unfortunately, the Zack Island has sunk to the bottom of the ocean. In the fourth tournament, Zack's sights are already set on his next conquest: the DOATEC Tritower, three enormous pillars stretching up to the sky. Unfortunately, the tower catches on fire (as a result of the Mugen Tenshin attack) as Zack is climbing it, but he manages to escape the flames, saving Helena's life in the process. He is then made the winner of the fourth tournament due to his bravery (Helena was the original winner). After finding the treasure of an undead Egyptian pharaoh in DOA4, Zack and Niki use their newfound wealth to form an unexplained contract with extraterrestrials who use a tractor beam to raise Zack Island (now called "New Zack Island") from the ocean floor, allowing Zack and Niki to once again restore it into an island paradise for the ladies of Dead or Alive to come play in. After proposing to Niki, Zack appear to be engulfed in a fiery explosion after a series of flaming meteorites once again destroys the island. However, it is later revealed that he was saved by the ambiguous alien abduction ray in Deus Ex Machina fashion. Before the fifth tournament, Zack joins Helena as her assistant in the newly reformed DOATEC. He made the official international announcement for the next tournament and had a new arena built for it. He personally invited Hitomi, Tina, and Jann Lee to participate in the tournament.

Zack's appearance is based on former NBA star Dennis Rodman. In the film DOA: Dead or Alive, Zack is portrayed by Brian J. White, retaining his natural personality. He also seems to have some interest in Tina, as in the games; in his last appearance of the film, Zack fights Tina and is defeated by her.

Hayate (ハヤテ) is the eldest child and only son of Shiden and Ayame, the leaders of the Mugen Tenshin ninja clan, and was born to be the next leader of the clan. When Genra requested to Shiden for Ayane, the village's "cursed child"-, to help him in his duties, Hayate treated the girl with kindness, which most of the clan did not give her. The two formed a strong bond, although Hayate did not know that Ayane was actually his half-sister, conceived when his uncle, the rogue ninja Raidou, raped Ayame when Hayate was only seven years old. Years later, Raidou attacked the Mugen Tenshin Village in an attempt to steal the clan's ninja technique, the Torn Sky Blast. Ayane attacked Raidou to defend Hayate and out of revenge for her birth, but was defeated. Hayate ran to her side, but when Raidou called him a "weakling" for hiding behind a woman, Hayate attacked him in rage, using the Torn Sky Blast to fight Raidou who stole it from him. As both of their attacks collided, the resulting explosion threw Hayate into a tree, cracking his spine and sending him into a coma. During the first Dead or Alive Tournament, Hayate was captured by DOATEC and was made to undergo various experiments as part of "Project Epsilon". After Project Epsilon was deemed a failure, Hayate was abandoned and was later found in the Black Forest of Germany by Hitomi, whose family took him in. Suffering from amnesia, he was named Ein (アイン,Ain, German for "One") and studied karate under Hitomi's father, later mastering it. He then joins the second Dead or Alive tournament to seek out his forgotten past, encountering many who knew him, including Ayane, Kasumi, Ryu, and Helena; he is eventually bested by Ryu in the tournament. Soon after, he regained his memory as Hayate and returned home to his village. In Dead or Alive 3, Hayate was assigned as the new leader of the Mugen Tenshin ninja clan, succeeding his father. He joins the third tournament to help Ayane and Ryu defeat DOATEC's new superhuman creation Omega, who was once Ayane's foster father and ninja master Genra. Although he feels it was his duty to defeat Omega as leader of the clan, Hayate is bested by Ayane, who then proceeds to the final round and kills her foster father, citing that it was a personal affair. He later returns in Dead or Alive 4 with Hayabusa and Ayane to defeat DOATEC and its latest creation, Alpha-152. He crosses paths with La Mariposa, who reveals that she manipuated them into attacking the Tritower. He appears as the final boss in Hitomi's story mode (as Ein), where he offers to help the latter rebuild her father's dojo if she could beat him in a fight. In the fifth tournament, he and Ayane are asked by Zack to follow Kasumi and assist Helena in her attempt to investigate the newly formed MIST. He encounters a Kasumi clone and he is later on forced to kill her. After being freed by Lisa from Rig's trap, he helps Kasumi, Hayabusa and Ayane defeat the remaining clones.

In the live-action film DOA: Dead or Alive, Hayate is captured by DOATEC after winning that year's DOA competition rather than being captured by DOATEC in his home village. He is meant to test Donovan's newest invention rather than being tested on Project Epsilon and is the reason for Kasumi's entrance in the tournament, much like the first game. Donovan states that Hayate is stronger than Kasumi and that he has a "perfect blend of skill, timing and strength." Hayate and Ayane are also shown as lovers rather than half-siblings. The fighting style he used was eagle claw.

Leon (レオン,Reon) is an Italian mercenary who, like Bayman, specializes in the combat sambo style of close-quarters combat. While he was on the Silk Road, he met Lauren, a young thief, and fell in love with her. The two were in a loving relationship until Lauren's sudden, tragic death in the desert. As Lauren died in Leon's arms, her final words were: "The man I love is the strongest man in the world." To prove his worth, Leon enters the second DOA tournament, where he fights Zack, who he seemed to have recognized from the past (though Zack does not seem to remember or actually know him), and Gen Fu. He loses in the second tournament, but returns in the third tournament where he encounters Jann Lee. After the events of the third tournament, he returns to the desert oasis where he had buried Lauren, and sees the mirage of his lover who gives him a desert flower before disappearing, indicating that he has fulfilled her expectations. He no longer participates in the DOA tournaments, though he remains a playable character in later installments.

Gohyakumine Bankotsubo (五百峯万骨坊,Gohyakumine Bankotsubō) is a tengu, a mythological creature from Japanese folklore. First appearing in DOA2 as the main antagonist, he escaped to the human world from the Tengu world after murdering his leader, Kuramasan Maouson. He wants chaos to reign over the world, but is stopped by Hayabusa. He later appears as an unlockable character in DOA Ultimate, DOA4, and DOA Dimensions. It is later revealed in Dimensions that Genra allowed him to escape to the human world.

Brad Wong (ブラッド・ウォン,Buraddo Uon) is a drunken wanderer who specializes in the zui quan fighting style. He embarks on a journey in search of a riddle from his old master Chen, who told him to "bring the legendary drink called Genra." After three years of wandering on his journey, he finds himself in the DOA fighting tournament. After his search for the legendary wine apparently ends after DOA4, he accompanies Eliot, much to Eliot's annoyance.

Genra (幻羅) was Ayane's foster father and the leader of Mugen Tenshin's Hajin Mon ninja. He was the one who sent Ayane after Kasumi after the latter left the clan in order to avenge Hayate. In Dead or Alive 3, he was the main antagonist, used as a test subject by DOATEC for Project Omega, transforming him into the superhuman Omega (オメガ). As Omega, he appears as a hulking figure fully clad in dark samurai armor, and wields a tokkosho sword. Unlike most matches in the Dead or Alive series, his battles are fought at an obscure camera angle. In Dead or Alive: Dimensions, Genra is featured as a boss character and as an unlockable character. In the game's Chronicle Mode, it is revealed that he willingly gave himself over to DOATEC to become stronger, revealing his cruel, twisted and power-hungry personality. It is also revealed that he allowed Bankotsubo, the Tengu, to pass through the human world. He was finally defeated and killed by Ayane (with aid from Hayabusa and Hayate, as revealed in Dimensions), who later cremates him, taking his tokkosho. His appearances in the games are portrayed with his face obscured, usually with a wooden mask.

Eliot (エリオット,Eriotto) is a high school boy from England and the sole apprentice to Gen Fu. He joins the fourth DOA tournament, very determined to prove to himself that he is worthy of being the successor. He is also revealed to be uncertain of why Gen Fu would choose him as his successor, seen while talking to Brad Wong. He later faces Gen Fu at the end of his story mode, and defeats him, proving his worth. He decides to enter the fifth tournament, and Brad follows him. He places fourth after losing to Hitomi, and he is now ready to learn xinyi liuhe quan, as taught by Gen Fu. His principle outfits are usually traditional kung fu uniforms, though he also wears modern Western fashions. His fighting style is xing yi quan.

Kokoro (こころ,"heart") is a Japanese girl that uses the bajiquan fighting style. Her mother, Miyako, was one of Fame Douglas' many mistresses (another being Helena's mother, Maria), and after Kokoro's birth, Miyako and her child moved to the country. Kokoro began training to be a geisha, but her heart was actually in both training to be a geisha and martial arts. She asked her mother if she could participate in the fourth Dead or Alive tournament, and she hesitantly accepted, but also says a statement indicating she could possibly meet someone of significance ("blood is thicker than water"). After several rounds of the tournament, Kokoro meets Helena, who, unbeknownst to Kokoro, is her half-sister. Kokoro's CG ending shows her returning home to pursue her geisha training once again, doing things like fan dancing and playing the shamisen and taiko drum. After she and her mother move to Tokyo for her mother's business, Kokoro sees Helena's announcement for the next tournament, in which she loses to Eliot in the quarterfinals. Kokoro is playable in Dead or Alive Xtreme 3.[10]

Lisa Hamilton (リサ・ハミルトン,Risa Hamiruton) is a young African-American woman who first appears in Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, being hired by Zack as Zack Island's holiday representative. Prior to her appearance, she was once the lead scientist at DOATEC, being involved in the Epsilon Project. However, for unknown reasons, she released Hayate. She then left DOATEC for a job as a stockbroker, though she still remains affiliated to DOATEC as its lead scientist for Project Alpha. Lisa is very sociable, getting along with everyone, including Ayane and Christie. She also seems to be a bit of a workaholic, evident by her multiple jobs, and the fact that she is almost always seen doing some form of work. Her multiple careers and job-changing is a trait she shares with Tina, her best friend from her high school days. In Dead or Alive 4, she appears as a masked luchadora named La Mariposa (ラ・マリポーサ,Ra Maripōsa, Spanish for "butterfly"), entering the tournament to match her wrestling skills against Tina's. She also confronts Hayate, revealing to him that she had manipulated him into destroying DOATEC. Also, in a cutscene involving her talking to Helena, she has shown to have some form of resentment with the company, specifically with Donovan's motives. She finally teams up with Tina to defeat a rival wrestling team at the end of her story mode, revealing her true identity in the process. In Dead or Alive 5, it is revealed that she is an operative for Donovan's new organization, M.I.S.T. In the game's true ending, after she frees Hayate and the Mugen Tenshin ninja and Hayabusa destroy the lab, she is trapped under some debris and her scream can be heard in the following explosion. Whether or not she survived is unknown; however, Lisa is set to appear in Dead or Alive 6, confirming she has survived.

Nicole (ニコール,Nikōru) is the result of collaboration between Tecmo's Team Ninja and Microsoft's Bungie.[11] Team Ninja originally asked Bungie for permission to use the Master Chief, which Bungie claimed would be impossible due to storyline restrictions.[11] But the staff at Bungie were intrigued with the idea and wanted to try something similar. As a result, Bungie developed the concept of a Spartan not entirely connected to the Halo storyline who could conveniently and somewhat plausibly be fit into the Dead or Alive universe. This concept evolved into the character of Nicole. Nearly all of the resources for her design came straight from Halo 2 game data. The data was modified to work in the Dead or Alive game engine as a female combatant, but kept to the traditional Spartan design; a feminine figure would have been implausible for such a heavily armored, cybernetically enhanced individual.[11] According to Nicole's fictional backstory, she is born in the Martian city of Legaspi in 2531. This, however, seems unlikely as the SPARTAN-II program used children of the age of 6 and born in 2511 (however it is possible as it is believed that there was a second class of spartan 2s). Members of the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) kidnap her at the age of six and enroll her in the SPARTAN-II Project, an initiative designed to develop the "Spartan" series of supersoldiers;[12] this is the same program that the Master Chief, and other Spartans from the Halo series undergo. Bungie explained Nicole's presence in the Dead or Alive setting of the 21st century in an article that revealed the character's background. The studio stated that the character, who has never appeared in any other Halo fiction, is sent to the 21st century when a partially stable "bubble" in the space-time continuum opens near Nassau Station, where she and her unit are preparing for a secret mission.[13] This "bubble" is created when Apocalypso, an ONI stealth vehicle, interacts with real-space, as a result of an unusual slipspace incident. This incident traps Nicole in the 21st century. While waiting for the bubble to collapse, which she hopes will enable her to return to the future, she battles any member of the DOA cast to arrive at the station, protecting its classified information.[14] To keep the space-time continuum stable, she avoids lethal force in executing her current task.

Nicole's fighting style is very quick and powerful, a variation of standard military close quarters combat. Her move list contains moves of other characters in the game; her fighting style is a hybrid of Leon and Bayman's movesets to create a blend of striking combos and throws.[15] Her style meant to incapacitate an armed opponent in a matter of seconds and take advantage of her enhanced strength, as well as to exploit any environmental advantages.[16] She is described as having great speed despite her large size.[17] Many of her moves allude to the Halo universe, with names such as "The Great Journey" and "The Grunt Punt"; the former is a powerful move that sends an opponent down stairs or off a ledge.[18] Also in Nicole's repertoire are several technologies from Halo, including active camouflage, represented by her taunt and rendering her nearly invisible, and the plasma grenade, represented by a command throw.[19] Previews of Dead or Alive 4 showed a Spartan among the game's characters; this attracted attention and curiosity regarding whether such a character would appear fully functional in the final version of the game.[20] The character's moves, all of which were homages to the Halo series, and the inclusion of a Halo-based level were positively described in pre-release reviews.[20] Bungie returned the favor, and in the release of Halo 3 there is an armor type called Hayabusa, for which its design is based on Ryu Hayabusa's appearance.

Rio (リオ), full name Rio Rollins Tachibana (リオ・ロリンズ・タチバナ,Rio Rorinzu Tachibana), is a character from Tecmo's Rio series of pachinko games, which also received a 2011 anime series, Rio: Rainbow Gate!, as well as the Rakushou! Pachi-Slot Sengen series of video games. She appears as a playable character in Dead or Alive Paradise. She is a casino dealer who works at the famed Howard Resort, and her ability to grant good fortune to everyone around her has given her the nickname of "The Goddess of Victory".

Shiden (紫電) is Kasumi and Hayate's father, Ayame's husband and Raidou's younger brother, the biological uncle of Ayane, and the former leader of the Mugen Tenshin ninja clan. When he was a member of the Mugen Tenshin ninja clan, he was a stronger ninja than Raidou. In DOA3, his position of leadership was ceded to Hayate. He made his first physical appearance in Dead or Alive Ultimate, and as a boss and playable character in Dead or Alive: Dimensions.

Honoka (ほのか) is an 18-year-old Japanese fighter capable of instantly learning any fighting move that she sees. She made her debut in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round.[22] She appears to have a similar aura and mimicry fighting style as Raidou, which led her connection with the Mugen Tenshin clan, including Raidou's daughter, Ayane, is remained unknown.

Honoka was designed by Natsuko Kawakami.[23] She is playable in DOAX3, appearing on the cover due to her popularity.[10][24]

Marie Rose (マリー・ローズ,Marī Rōzu) is an 18-year-old Swedish maid who uses the Russian fighting style, systema. She debuted in the Arcade Edition of DOA5 Ultimate and is a DLC character in the retail version of the game.[26] Her opening card when entering the fight as well as her interactions with Helena imply that she acts as her servant or maid.

Marie was designed by Natsuko Kawakami.[23] She is playable in DOAX3,[10] appearing on the covers due to her popularity.[24]

Mila (ミラ,Mira) is an up-and-coming mixed martial arts Spanish champion who has scored spectacular victories all over the world. She spends her days training at the gym in between shifts at her part-time job, honing her skills as a lightning fast, orthodox striker with a strong follow-up ground game. She also feels intense admiration for a certain fighter, and she has entered the fifth Dead or Alive Tournament to follow her dream of taking on her idol in the ring.[27] Some days after an exhibition match with Tina, she loses in the quarterfinals to Hitomi, as Tina also lost as well, by her own father, Bass (as Mr. Strong).

Naotora Ii (井伊 直虎,Ii Naotora) is a guest character from Tecmo Koei's Samurai Warriors (Sengoku Musou) series. In Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, Naotora was sent into the present day due to one of Victor Donovan's M.I.S.T. time travelling experiments. Naotora is the ruler of Japan's Warring States era Ii Clan; she has no choice but to fight for life under the Ii name and keep the motto of her family: "once on the battlefield, one must face the enemy head on" in mind. A determined Naotora sets out to emerge victorious from this strange new challenge.

Nyotengu (女天狗) is a female tengu from the mountains of Japan. Nyotengu practices tengu-do, a unique fighting style passed down for ages.[30] She is the princess of the tengu world who comes to the human world to seek revenge against Ryu Hayabusa for killing her master, the Bankotsubo. Unaware to her, Nyotengu's master has made several crimes in attacking her people and his own people.

Nyotengu is a DLC character in the retail version of DOA5 Ultimate,[31] and later included in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round. She is also playable in DOAX3.[10] She was furthermore added to DOA6 as a bonus character despite tight budget and schedule due to the designers' preference for her.[32]

Rig (リグ,Rigu) is a natural born fighter. He has used his powerful instincts to master of the art of taekwondo. He has run the oil rig from a young age, and his colleagues simply call him "Rig". But even he doesn't know his real name or where he comes from. He learned taekwondo on the oil rig, which led him to create his own style, with plenty of moves he came up with himself.[33] Through playing story mode in Dead or Alive 5, it soon becomes apparent that Rig knows more about his identity than he lets on. He is the son of Donovan. He knew about the Mugen Tenshin Ninja prior to meeting them, and disappears after losing to Kasumi in a fight in the lab. In the game's extra cutscene, he reveals to Donovan that Phase 4 is according to plan.

A European woman who is described to be as a soft and fluffy, big-breasted princess, and presumably hailed from Scotland. She arrived at the island to meet with and be at the Owner's side, having fallen in love with him at first sight.

She is a scholar who wants to investigate the surrounding within Zack Island. She was released on the post-launch Week 3 of Venus Vacation. The only thing known about her besides her name is that she apparently likes eating yaki-imo (baked sweet potato).

She is an exclusive supporter, who always supports the owner. See her off with a smile full of spirit, and who knows what kind of things she may be able to work hard at? She is a modern-day girl who will lightheartedly come into contact with the owner like a friend. But there is also a side to her that avoids exposing her skin. She also has an older sister named Nagisa who is extremely protective of her.

A swimsuit model-turned fashion designer who is described to be very matured and charming, as well as her love for drinking. She has an older sister-type demeanor, yet is shown to have some lewd aspects to her.

Diego is a Mexican-American street fighter who grew up in the back alleys of the New York City. Diego started entering street matches to win money to support his ailing mother, and quickly became known as New York's “uncrowned street hero.”

According to the DOA6 director and producer Yohei Shimbori, for Diego they "wanted an American fighter between the ages of 25 and 35 to whom the public could relate. This [American] audience is less fond of styles like kung fu, they prefer a street fighter."[36] According to designer Tom Lee, Diego was created specifically to give representation to the Hispanic community in America as well as appealing to American sensibilities.[37] Diege was ultimately created from three different ideas presented by Lee.[32]

NiCO is a Finnish scientist who works for MIST and a fighter who utilizes both silat and electro-technomancy, powered on her technological gloves to utilize long-ranged electric and teleportation attacks. She was responsible of resurrecting Raidou as a cyborg.

Yohei Shimbori said she "was created for anime fans around the world. We made her cute but also very smart, she's a scientist, all that in order to make her cool." Shimbori said her fighting style was inspired by him watching the Indonesian film The Raid.[36] Previously he said NiCO has been created primarily for the Japanese and Asian markets, influenced by anime and light novels. She was at first supposed to be a Russian; her Japanese voice actor Sumire Uesaka was originally chosen for her Russian language skills.[40] He also said that he initially wanted her too look even younger than Marie does.[41]

Fame Douglas (フェイム・ダグラス,Feimu Dagurasu) was the chairman of DOATEC and Helena's biological father. He was assassinated by Bayman (who was hired by Donovan) after arguing with Donovan in DOA, where it is thought that he was opposed to the human experimentation proposed by Donovan, which led to his assassination. His illegitimate daughter, Helena, stands to inherit his position as chairman of DOATEC, but in DOA3 Donovan makes attempts to stop this from happening by kidnapping her and forcing her to compete in the tournament for her freedom. She escapes her imprisonment and goes on to inherit Douglas' position as chairman of DOATEC in DOA4. He makes his first physical appearance in DOA Dimensions.

Irene Lew (アイリーン・ルゥ,Airīn Ru) is Ryu Hayabusa's ally and love interest from the Ninja Gaiden series for the NES, though only mentioned in the first DOA game in Ryu's backstory. Irene makes her first physical appearance in DOA Dimensions, acting as a support character for Ryu and the Mugen Tenshin ninjas during their mission to take down DOATEC. Irene previously appeared in Ninja Gaiden II as the character Sonia, which is revealed to be her alias. She also uses this alias as the codename for the operation of taking down DOATEC in Dimensions.

Lauren (ローレン,Rōren) is Leon's lost lover. Prior to the DOA tournaments, Lauren was a young thief, who met Leon in the Silk Road and fell in love with him. The two were in a loving relationship until Lauren's sudden, tragic death in the desert, shown in a flashback scene in DOA2. As Lauren died in Leon's arms, her final words were: "The man I love is the strongest man in the world." These words motivated Leon to enter the second and third DOA tournaments, by the end of which he returns to the desert oasis where he had buried Lauren, and sees the mirage of his lover who gives him a desert flower before disappearing, indicating that he has fulfilled her expectations. Until DOA Ultimate, her name was mistranslated as Rolande.

Mei Lin (メイ・リン,Mei Rin) is Gen Fu's granddaughter. In the first DOA game, she suffered a terrible disease, resulting in Gen Fu entering three DOA tournaments for her operation. In the fourth DOA tournament, she is fully recovered, hence Gen Fu no longer enters the tournament. She can be seen at the end of Eliot's ending.

Miyako (美夜子) is Kokoro's overprotective mother and a geisha residing in Kyoto. In her earlier years, Miyako fell in love with Fame Douglas, and the two of them had an affair which resulted in Kokoro's birth. Being the center of the seeding workings at DOATEC, Miyako feared for her daughter's safety. To protect her, Miyako returned to Japan and raised Kokoro as a single parent, never telling her daughter about her father or her heritage to DOATEC, and started to oversee Kokoro's training to become a geisha. However, when Kokoro became more interested in martial arts than her geisha training and decided to enter the fourth Dead or Alive tournament, Miyako reluctantly allows her to go while warning her that she will not be satisfied in finding out the truth. Her affair with Fame was revealed by Helena. In DOA5 it is revealed that she is the head of DOATEC Japan and is an operative for Donovan's new organization M.I.S.T., though Kokoro is unaware of this.

Muramasa (村正) is a character from the Ninja Gaiden series. He made several appearances in DOA4 as the merchant who deals with Bass, Hitomi and Leifang in the Sea Side Market. He also appears in DOA5 in which he is taking care of and/or watching over Kasumi throughout most of the game's story.

Niki (ニキ) is Zack's newest girlfriend. They met in a casino after the Dead or Alive 3 tournament, when Zack won a large sum of money that allowed him to buy an island which he named after himself. He invited most of the girls he remembered from the last tournament to his island under the false pretense of holding another tournament. The women arrived and after finding out it was a hoax, they decided to nonetheless spend their vacation there, but Zack and Niki were eventually left alone on the island. However, a previously inactive volcano erupted, and Niki decided to escape using Zack's jet pack. Zack survived, but his island was completely destroyed. During DOA4, they are seen robbing an ancient tomb and escaping in a truck filled with gold. Niki is Zack's lucky charm (Lady Luck) and he takes her everywhere with him, going as far as naming a beach on his island's eastern shore after her. Niki joined the cast of DOAX2, but not in a player-controlled role and appearing only in cut scenes with Zack as before.

Victor Donovan (ビクター・ドノバン,Bikutā Donoban) is the main antagonist of the Dead or Alive series. He is the leader of DOATEC's anti-Douglas faction and is head of the Development Department, a state-of-the-art military fortress where Projects Alpha and Omega were developed. In the first DOA game, Donovan employed the Russian assassin Bayman to kill DOATEC's chairman, Fame Douglas. This attempt is thought to have been successful, as Douglas died shortly after the event. The nature of Donovan's rebellion is thought to be controversy over experiments to be carried out to create the ultimate DOA fighter. In DOA3 Donovan captures Helena, Fame Douglas' daughter, since she stands to inherit her father's position as chairman of DOATEC. He challenges Helena to win the third Dead or Alive tournament in order to gain her freedom and learn the truth behind the company, and also employs the assassin Christie to keep an eye on her. Meanwhile, Bayman seeks revenge after Donovan plotted his assassination to tie up any loose ends. Donovan is thought to be behind experiments such as Project Epsilon, to which Hayate was subjected; Project Alpha, the cloning of Kasumi; and Project Omega, the augmentation of Ayane's foster father Genra into the ultimate DOA fighter Omega. In Helena's ending of DOA4, Ryu is shown destroying a ship with a man who may or may not be Donovan. The same figure also appeared to have been assassinated by Christie in a gentlemen's club. In what may appear to be the canon telling of Donovan's fate, DOA Dimensions shows the shadowy antagonist placing on his face the same mask that corrupted Genra. An aura of demonic energy then surrounds Donovan as he walks back into the shadows, laughing maniacally. In DOA5, which takes place two years after the fourth tournament, he sets up a new organization called MIST after DOATEC (now headed by Helena) disbanded its Military Division and Development Department, with Christie, Lisa, Miyako, and his son Rig as his operatives. At the post-end credits, he and his son have a chat, confirming that the fourth stage of Project Alpha can begin as planned.

In the 2006 movie adaption, Donovan was killed in the explosion of DOA Island after being paralyzed by an acupuncture dart thrown by Kasumi.